Pie Crust- Friend or Foe?

It's Thanksgiving morning and I'm waiting for my turkey to thaw completely before it goes into the oven. Despite how many days before it goes from freezer to fridge, I inevitably participate in this Turkey Day AM ritual pretty much every year.

A few years ago I attempted making pie crust from scratch for an apple pie that could rival Gabrielle's, my mother-in-law's. I awed at her ability to make such a flaky crust that I thought, wow, I will NEVER be able to do that. In addition, I was always amazed at how many apples she put into the pie. Anyways, my first apple pie was a flop...crust soggy underneath, the top and edge crust so tough that it was better to soak it in whipped cream before eating it due to a chance that you might just break a tooth. What had I done to deserve such horrible luck?

After finally getting over the pie-which-shall-not-be-mentioned, I got my nerve up to try it again. Martha had said it was easy. Online bakers said it was easy. Everyone was saying it was easy....

One of the best recipe books I have discovered over 10 years of marriage is the Betty Crocker cookbook, the one with the red cover. If you were not fortunate enough to get one for a wedding and/or you're-an-adult-now-you-should-have-this-in-your-kitchen gift, GET IT. The pie crust tips and recipe are seriously some of the easiest ever.

All ingredients are local...which is great especially when you realize that it's a week to Thanksgiving and nothing you order from the states is getting here in time for Turkey Day.

***RANDOM, BUT MAYBE NOT SO RANDOM KITCHEN, APPLIANCE ALERT!****


Betty Crocker Pie Crust

I made 3 crusts, 2 for a covered apple pie and 1 for a pumpkin pie. You can adjust the amounts as necessary.

3 cups of flour
1.5 tsp salt
1 cup of cold butter (2 sticks)
6-10 TBsp of ice water (the ICE part is important and I think this was part of my problem before)


Add the flour, salt and cut up butter into the food processor. Pulse several times until you have pea sized pieces. You can also do this with a pastry cutter or 2 knives, but remember, you want to handle the ingredients as little as possible! Once butter is cut in, start processor and add water all at once. Dough should pull away from the sides of the processor when ready. Add 1 or 2 TBsp of ice water at a time until you see this effect. One tip::: you don't want the dough to form a ball in the processor.


Dump out onto plastic wrap or wax paper. Work quickly and shape into a disc. Wrap and put into fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour to chill.


Remove dough from fridge and cut into 3 sections. Place sections you are not rolling immediately back into fridge until you are ready to roll out.


To roll out, flour the counter (I'm fortunate to have granite here which keeps cool) or one of those nifty pie rolling guides. For your rolling pin, flour it as well. Roll the dough from the center of the disc, turning every couple of rolls. Again, WORK QUICKLY. If the dough or pin starts to stick, dust lightly with flour. Once dough is a few millimeters thick, lift and place into pie plate.

Bake according to your pie recipe as each one is a little different.

As you can see from the picture above, the apple pie came out fabulous!!!

For additional tips, go to Betty Crocker's website: www.bettycrocker.com/how-to/baking-basics/Pies/Pie-Crust-Tips.htm

Happy Thanksgiving, LLOR Readers!

Flying Tortillas

One thing that a good ol' Texas girl must have in her kitchen is tortillas. My mom submitted this recipe that she and her friend made a couple of weeks ago. These will surely throw you off your pre-Turkey Day diet, but dang, they are good.

On a side note, if you are a native Texan like myself, you may know of Texas Tech Red Raider fans throwing tortillas onto the football field for game day. I had to look this one up as it has been a few years. Apparently in 1992 before a Texas A&M game, an ESPN commentator made a comment about Lubbock, the town where Texas Tech is located, in that the only thing there is Tech and the tortilla factory. In protest, the fans threw hundreds of tortillas onto the field. Pretty funny if you ask me....

All ingredients should be able to be found locally as there are only 3!
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Tortillas

4 cups of flour (you can use white or whole wheat here)
1 stick of oleo (any substitute would work, including Crisco sticks)
1.5 tsp of salt

Cut the oleo into the flour along with the salt. You can do this by crisscrossing 2 knives or a pastry cutter (if you are all fancy like that :) ). You'll want to do this until you have pea sized pieces, much like making a pie crust.

Knead the dough and roll into balls. The bigger the ball, the larger the tortilla will be. Cover and let dough sit for 20 minutes.

Heat the griddle. You can also use a fry pan as well, but a flat pan (much like one you use for pancakes) works the best. Roll out the balls of dough very thin and put onto griddle. When bubbles start, flip then press. The tortilla is done with there is a little brown on the bubbles.

Remove and let cool in a ziploc bag.

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Now whether you decide to throw these at a football game or eat them, I think you'll find it equally satisfying!

This Ain’t Your Mama’s Mini Meat Loaves

My friend Nana sent me this recipe after it was a big hit for dinner one evening with her hubby. Meat loaf normally gets a bad rap, but these are really fantastic. Pair them with some potatoes, and you've got yourself a meal that will please any meat-n-potatoes fan in your house.

Many of the ingredients that are listed are interchangeable for local ingredients. If you're on the newer side of cooking, try my Substitutions link on the main page. Also, if you make the full recipe, they can be frozen and the directions on how to reheat are listed. What a fabulous solution to a mid-week meal crisis!

Mini Meat Loaves

• 1 cup ketchup
  
• 3 to 4 tablespoons packed brown sugar (regular sugar or Splenda can also be used)
  
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard (try yellow or brown mustard if you don't have the dry stuff)
  
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  
• 3 cups Crispix cereal, crushed (I've used Rice Krispies, but any other 'rice' cereal can be subbed---Fitness, Rice Chex, etc)
  
• 3 teaspoons onion powder (again, use real onions or even dried)
  
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon seasoned salt (steak seasoning works great!)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (fresh garlic works great)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  
• 3 pounds lean ground beef
  

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Remove 1/2 cup for topping; set aside. Add the eggs, Worcestershire sauce, cereal and seasonings to remaining ketchup mixture. Let stand for 5 minutes. Crumble beef over cereal mixture and mix well.
  
• Press meat mixture into 18 muffin cups (about 1/3 cup each). Bake at 375° for 18-20 minutes. Drizzle with reserved ketchup mixture; bake 10 minutes longer or until meat is no longer pink and a meat thermometer reads 160°.
  
• Serve desired number of meat loaves. Cool remaining loaves; freeze. Transfer to freezer bags; seal and freeze for up to 3 months.
  
• To use frozen meat loaves: Completely thaw in the refrigerator. Place loaves in a greased baking dish. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until heated through, or cover and microwave on high for 1 minute or until heated through. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.
  

Enjoy these tasty treats with your family soon. Because isn't meat loaf truly American?

Vichycoisse aka A Pot Full of Yum

I know, it's probably misspelled, but you get the point.

This recipe is in homage to one of the loftier food blogs in cyberspace and Julia Child, whom that blog was honoring (read Julie and Julia if you get the chance. Great fun for foodies. Also, if you want further history, read Child's: My Year in France, in which she details how she went from a lonely State Department wife--familiar anyone?--to a master chef who changed the face of American /French cuisine almost by accident as she tried to discover her life's passion.)

What you'll need:

2 tblsp. butter

8-10 leeks

4 large russet potatoes

salt & pepper

can of chicken broth/chicken boullion

cream or milk

In a dutch oven or thick cast iron soup pot, melt the butter and saute the leeks until they are translucent. For those of you unused to working with leeks, cut away the green stalk and focus on the white bulb. The leeks should be rather thinly sliced and will quickly saute. Peel and dice the potatoes into small pieces and add them to the pot with the leeks. Add a can of chicken broth and bring to a boil. After broth boils, turn down to a simmer, and let the potatoes cook until tender.

Once the potatoes are cooked, mash down them down until they're smooth. I use a hand food processor. You could probably use a blender, also. Once the potatoes are smooth, taste and then season with salt and pepper. At this point, let the pot sit out for a while until it starts to cool. When no longer scorching hot, put the pot into the refrigerator and let cool. After an hour or two, take out the soup and incorporate enough milk to thin the broth. I use either a cup or two, depending on my liking. If you want to get really fancy, dice up a few chives and sprinkle on the top when serving.

Now, the concept of cold soup might not appeal to you. The great thing is that this soup tastes pretty good warm, too. With some crusty bread, perhaps, and an accompanying plate of cheeses and grapes, you have quite a lovely high-fallutin' French meal. Julia would be proud.

Mark’s I Want My Baby Back Ribs

While in Texas for RandR, my brother graciously hosted a Football watching party complete with all the Texas type food you could want. Mark is a great cook, and he has far fewer epic fails in the kitchen than I do. He had been bragging about these ribs for a while and decided to finally make them. When he told me that these were done mainly in a CrockPot, I thought, OK, it's possible, since I did my Thanksgiving turkey in one 2 years back. Anyone who thinks good ribs have to be done on a grill will be sorely mistaken with this recipe. It's just plain ol' good.

As for ingredients, if you are not like me in Tunis, you should be able to readily find pork ribs. However, you can also sub in beef ribs and have them cut down by your butcher to fit in your CrockPot. I've bought 2 different kinds of rubs from my local BBQ place in Houston (shout out to Carl's BBQ in Cypress, TX!!), but you can look up some made from scratch rubs online at http://www.allrecipes.com/. As for BBQ sauce, I always keep some on hand because I am a TX girl, after all.

Oh, and I almost forgot: CROCK POT ALERT!!!

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Mark's I Want My Baby Back Ribs

Equipment:
- slow cooker or crock pot at least as deep as width of ribs
- oven
- oven pan or broiler pan
- knife

Ingredients:
Baby Back Ribs (as many as you want and can stand on their bone end in a crock pot or slow cooker)
2-3 T dry rub per rack (I like Head Country but I think any smoky type sauce should work)
1/2c + 1/4-1/2 c BBQ sauce per rack

Prep: Take silver skin off the back of the baby back ribs. The easiest way to do this is take a knife, insert it under the skin, work your fingers under the skin and slowly work your finger under it down the ribs until it's all off. On the meaty side, trim any excess fat or any silver skin that might be there.

Rub ribs with a dry rub on both sides. I've let them sit overnight and I've done that right before, I'm sure over night lets it sink in more but life doesn't always give you the call for ribs a day in advance.

Cooking: Put the ribs under the broiler for 15-20 minutes flipping once. You want them to get a little cooked on the outside. My oven is gas and I'm not sure it works as fast as an electric so keep any eye on them... no burning should happen.

I pour maybe 1/3-1/2 cup off bbq sauce and maybe 1/2-1 cup of water in the bottom of slow cooker or crock pot and arrange the ribs where they stand up on the bone end. My crock pot only fits 1 rack so I cut it into 3 pieces. You don't want them soaking in the liquid while cooking, that'll make the meat fall straight off the bone when removing. I've cooked them on low for 6 hours, or 4ish on a combination of high and low, just depends if you're around the house or not.

Finish them: Pull them out of the slow cooker, put them on sheet pan or broiler pan, put a thin layer of bbq sauce on them and put them back under the broiler until the sauce is bubbling a little bit but watch to not burn. I'll start them on meat side down, then flip to bone side down.

Enjoying: For the neat freaks, you should be able to eat these with a fork and knife. For the real deal, get in there with your hands. If you need more bbq sauce, have a little warm sauce nearby for individual bite dipping purposes. If anyone criticizes you on this, just tell them "The ribs told me to do it."

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Impress your friends with these. They will thank you for it.